Swabhiman, Sahyog & Shasthra- the Anchoring Tribal Character Identities

Tribals were treated as Criminals by British due to their Proud feelings and their non compromising character on it. Even Samrat Ashoka conquered Kalinga and was the Samrat of Bharath and Indian Ocean, however, from the Rock Edict XIII of Samrat read that tribes of those times call “Atavik “ or “Attavikas” did not agree to his ruling in tribal areas and tested his patience.

The Narrative World    27-Mar-2023   
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We all know that the Indian constitution is the largest in the world. But unfortunately it is unable to define a large population called tribes. Who is a tribe? There is no legal or sociological definition in India. Time to time political leaderships demands certain community to add in to Tribe Category. After 75 years of Independence this practice is continuing.


Similar to any other communities’ Tribal communities are having their unique community characters. These tribal community characters are encompassing some community rights apart from the usual individual rights. There are many things that define a tribal group but there are always three Character Identities that act as anchors in forging their Tribal visage- Swabhiman, Sahyog and Shasthra.


Tribal communities are having certain unique characters distinct from others and these characters are by and large universal and more specific to Indian groups. Depending on the geographical habitat some of the groups prefer to stay deep inside the forest. Few are in the buffer zones of the forest and certainly some groups do not stay permanently in one palace like gypsies.


Normally they do not mix with other communities, and try to keep away from the urban community. Tribes staying in deep forest will generally tend to be introverted in their basic nature. At the Same time it is important to note that as a community they were self-reliant on their traditional way of life. Their dependency were restricted among the community only.


Irrespective of these the most important character of a tribal community is their Pride and Honour. They like to live in pride on their area, never allowed others to rule them with any law; and protecting the home land (forest and its resources) while giving their life was a prime goal. T


aking the example of great tribal leaders and martyrs like Bhagwan Birsa Munda of central India fought against British and many others fought against Turkic Invaders to protect their rights.


Tribals were treated as Criminals by British due to their Proud feelings and their non compromising character on it. Even Samrat Ashoka conquered Kalinga and was the Samrat of Bharath and Indian Ocean, however, from the Rock Edict XIII of Samrat read that tribes of those times call “Atavik “ or “Attavikas” did not agree to his ruling in tribal areas and tested his patience.


All the available history since BCE pointed out that the Basic character of Tribe community is Pride (SWABHIMAN) with the tribal majority especially in India. Beggars are not seen in tribal areas and from tribes especially north eastern scheduled states reinforce this fact.


The tribal communities having high values, Morals, as well as social values. Due to this there is high interdependency in the community but outside interference is very less. Decision making, gender parity, respect to the elders and leaders all are strong characters of tribes.


Parallels of traditional community support systems like “Halma”(Bheel Community) are visible in tribal communities across India. The individual’s or one family’s difficulty or grief is taken over and shared by community. It helps in the promotion of positive thought to be in the community and the mental health index of tribal communities are better than others.


Nature and community teach them “how to live Happily”. This is the general perception and thought of Tribal communities while Urban communities are still searching for it. Community gathering, collective decision on common issues (SAHAYOG) is another exclusive character of Tribal community.


All tribal community groups are having their own traditional weapons. These weapons are depending on their character of food choice like agriculture, hunting or fighting.


Archery is common to most of the communities, even some using only archery; but certain use unique weapons as their identity. Even the ones that use the sword have designs that are different in different communities.


These weapons have a prestigious position in there life, their Poojas and Ceremonial events. Usage of these traditional weapons (SHASTHRA) are another uniqueness of Tribal community identification.


Swabhiman, Sahayog and Shasthra are the unique tribal character identities. Tribal communities’ characters are developed and continued with their value system and the root of it is their belief system, and dependency on nature. When nature and beliefs change, character and identity also fall behind and eventually, the ecosystem collapses.

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By Adv. Shine P Sasidhar